Wisconsin judge resigns after conviction for aiding immigrant evading ICE in courtroom

WASHINGTON (TNND) — A Wisconsin judge found guilty of aiding an illegal immigrant in escaping federal law enforcement resigned from her courtship.

Last December, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was convicted on one obstruction count charge for allowing a Mexican immigrant to exit through a backdoor in her courtroom upon learning of ICE agents presence in the building.

After Dugan was charged in April 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended her from work, but she continued to collect paychecks from her roughly $175,000 a year salary. She’s faced mounting pressures from Republican state lawmakers to resign or else face impeachment proceedings.

Dugan submitted her letter of resignation to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary. I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” Dugan said in the letter.

“However, the Wisconsin citizens that I cherish deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 31 rather than have the fate of that Court rest in a partisan fight in the state legislature,” Dugan continued.

Dugan is in the process of appealing her conviction. Her attorneys have requested the U.S. that District Judge Lynn Adelman grant an extension on the deadline to file briefs which will determine if a new trial will take forth. Dugan and her lawyers could expect to hear an answer as soon as March.

Dugan is still awaiting sentencing with the maximum penalty for her conviction set at five years in prison.